Drive kind this holiday season on Texas roadways

Howard County drivers, along with the rest of Texas, are preparing to hit the roadways for holiday travel. While weather conditions may not look to be inclement at this time, there are still precautions that need to be taken before hitting the roadway, in order to limit delays and risk of accidents.

In Texas, on average, there are about 10 deaths on the highway due to a crash. In a year’s time, on average, 8,000 people will lose their life due to a crash on a Texas roadway. According to Oscar Villarreal, Texas Department of Public Safety, said those numbers are equivalent to wiping out a small West Texas town. Investigations have shown that 99.7% of crashes are preventable.

“This means we are doing something to contribute to the crash or we are failing to drive the vehicle in a responsible manner either by introduction of distraction … more often than not it is by distraction,” Villarreal said. “The biggest contributor to crashes is distraction. Most of the time if we are not focused on our driving whether its a conversation or cell phone, anything other than driving.”

Howard County and Martin County have seen an increase in traffic accidents over the past week. The most recent was a firey crash that involved a tractor trailer in Martin County. Several of the accidents have included chain reactions making the damage even worse. While these accidents are still under investigation, a predetermination is that distracted driving was a contributing factor.

In an effort to educate Texas drivers, a new program was launched by Villarreal and the DPS office, encouraging driver to Drive Kind.

“If we drove the way we defined the word kind think of the impact that would make,” he said. “What would be do in that bottleneck when someone is waiting to get in … if we would hold the door for someone to come into a building because it’s windy or cold why wouldn’t we let them in. If we say we are kind then why don’t we drive that way.”

Typically the speed limit is 70 mph on Texas roadways, but many drivers go on average five miles over due to being in a hurry and the belief that they can get away with it. Road conditions, traffic, weather and other factors are considered when establishing a speed limit. However, those five miles over that